The conventional wisdom is that any kind of treatment is likely to be less effective as the child gets older, so parents of autistic children usually believe that they are working against the clock. They will not be satisfied with the ambiguities surrounding ABA, nor will they want to wait for some future research finding that might slightly increase its effectiveness. They want results now. Because there are no scientifically-validated drugs for the core symptoms of autism, they look outside the boundaries of mainstream medicine and FDA approval. Studies have found that anywhere from 28 to 54 percent of autistic children receive “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM), and these numbers probably understate CAM usage.
Australian Associated Press:
An Australian naturopath claims in a Facebook video that autism in children can be cured with therapeutic healthcare including a change of diet.
The claim is false. Experts say there is no cure for autism. Research into a possible link between nutrition and autism symptoms is inconclusive.
The claim was made by Robyn Cosford, who describes herself as a former medical practitioner and now runs the School of Divine Health.
“A lot of people think, even now, that autism is irreversible. It’s a label, a diagnosis that’s given by the medical profession and people are stuck with it, but that’s not true,” Dr Cosford said in the video (screenshot here).
“In most cases with correct nutritional biochemistry and diet and other allied therapies, in most cases you can bring these children back. You can bring them back into normal behaviour and back into life and functioning” (video mark 11min 20sec).
